ANTHROPOLOGY 550
ETHNOGRAPHIC FIELD METHODS

MF 1:30-3:20, Denny 401

Exercise and Readings for Monday, October 20
Discomfort in Fieldwork

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FRIDAY HISTORICAL READINGS
Oct 10: Pioneers
Oct 17: Expertise
Oct 24: Cliffords
Oct 31: Danger
Nov 7: El Dorado
Nov 14: Emotions
Nov 21: Natives
M Dec 1: Assistants
Dec 5: Summary


MONDAY EXERCISES
Sep 29: Experience
Oct 6: Observation
Oct 13: Interview
Oct 20: Discomfort
Oct 27: Formal
Nov 3: Survey
Nov 10: Photo
Nov 17: Video
Nov 24: Digital
 Your fourth class exercise is due for today. Your assignment is about discomfort in fieldwork. Everyone faces it; aside from health and other personal hazards in some places (we will deal with these directly on Nov. 7), there is the discomfort of feeling that you don't belong in a place, or that you are imposing on people's time, or asking questions that your interlocutors find ridiculous or boring. So your assignment is to confront (minor) discomfort directly:
  • Select a place where you feel mildly uncomfortable (or more than mildly uncomfortable; but I wouldn't require that of people) or out of place. Conduct either a brief observation, as in your second exercise, or a brief interview, as in your third, and take notes as you did previously.
  • By 9:00 a.m on the day of class, reflect on how you felt during your observation or interview, and how you think this affected what you observed, what you asked, and more importantly, what you wish you had observed or asked about and didn't.
We will spend our class time discussing the emotional realities of discomfort in ethnographic research.

In preparation for this exercise, read the following: